Airbnb party shootings, here we go again!

[Robin4]

When is Airbnb going to stop supporting the guest?

April 9th 2022: ELK GROVE (CBS13) — A party at an Airbnb rental in Elk Grove turned into a nightmare when an 18-year-old was shot and killed, said the Elk Grove Police Department. The incident took place at a residence in the area of Bowmont Way and Brandamore Court around 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

April 13th 2022:  A 23-second running gun battle in which 30 to 50 shots were fired during a teen's birthday party at a rented Airbnb house in a suburb of Houston left one person wounded.

April 18th 2022: Two teenagers were killed and at least eight people were wounded when a barrage of 50 gunshots broke out early Sunday inside a Pittsburgh Airbnb rental house, where police said roughly 200 people were having a party. Some escaped the gunfire by jumping out of windows. One of the gunshot party-going victims was 14 years old!

The dust has only just settled on an Airbnb  Sunnyvale California shooting on the 9th August 2021 where one person died, The 150+ people at that Airbnb party were aged between 15 and 19!

Airbnb, you are killing our industry! Your emphasis on protecting your guests at all costs, limiting them to any liability and shielding them from host scrutiny is forcing experienced hosts to leave Airbnb in droves and it is killing the industry for those of us that remain. Airbnb is now a dirty word, can’t you see what is happening?

@Catherine-Powell  you were lured to Airbnb with an incentive package that none of us hosts would ever dream of receiving in a lifetime. Instead of issuing feel good statements that in reality don't seem to lead anywhere, please start earning something of that $15m package that attracted you to Airbnb as global head of hosting! You are a person of influence within the company, represent your hosts! Please give us hosts the tools we need to stop this sort of mindless behaviour from happening. Local parties don’t just crop up out of nowhere, organisers don’t travel 100s Kms to stage them…..they are invariably local bookings! Work with your hosts to prevent them from happening! Local government authorities around the world are just going to keep on putting the screws on short term rentals!

Give us hosts potential guests verified information prior to booking, not just a generic letter!

Liaise with police enforcement to give a rapid response to out of control situations. You are the ones that hold all the relevant information…..make it available in a timely manner, not expect the hapless host sort it out because nobody in support knows what to do!

We have heard plenty of the talk, now is the time for action while there is still something of respectability in the company left……

Please support your hosts!!!

The thing Airbnb have to realise, good guests don't mind scrutiny, in fact it's their badge of honour......poor guests resent it and abuse it!

Cheers.......Rob

[Quincy]

Hi @Robin4, frankly, I am quite shocked to see your reply here about not feeling represented. The CC team knows you for quite a few years now, and as Community Managers we always try to do our best to represent those sharing ideas, tips, and feedback on the Community Center no matter what the nature of the topic is (I am sure that you know that best!). 

We view and communicate with everyone from a human perspective. What we say comes from our heart, rather than a script, Robin. 

Now, I do understand that perhaps we are not perfect in other people's perspective, but we always try to do what we think is the right. Everything that is shared here on the CC, is read by us and, shared with the wider team (yes, including Catherine Powell).   

Know that we appreciate you, and everything you have done (and are still doing!) over the years, let's keep sharing constructive feedback so that we can read, action, and present this big book of changes that everyone has worked on. 

I just want to say thank you again, Robin, for the years you've been with us on the CC. 

[Anonymous]

**[Inappropriate content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Robin4]

@Quincy 

Hi Quincy, I was not in any way suggesting that we hosts are not getting good representation from you, the moderators of the CC. You guys at Standing on Giants are doing a great job at putting in a word for us and keeping the CC running smoothly and effectively, you have, all of you, done a great job over the years.

But your hands are tied just as ours are Quincy, you can't alter company policy all you can do is make representation on our behalf to the relevant department within the company.

My comments might sound aggressive and misguided Quincy but we in the hosting community have for years been told by the company that we are partners, we are an important and integral part of the company. It seems we are as long as we don't have issues or make complaints. And each year the company makes it harder for us to host and not have issues and complaints. We are continually subject to host baiting with things like Aircover,  security deposits, party rules, verifications that simply don't exist, or are so hard for a host to access, they might just as well not exist! The host is in a daily battle, here is what faced me this morning.......

This bed looked like it had been in a war zone, there was blood over half the pillowcases and both the sheets.....and lots of it.  Not a mention by the guests when they left, and I dare not make any mention of it to the company or in the review process because I will cop a prickly response if I do. This is just a part of hosting!

Quincy, you can see by the comments on this thread, we are all angry, we all feel let down.....not by you the moderators, but the company administrators. Please don't take my comments as a reflection on the good work you guys do.

Cheers........Rob  

[John5097]

@Robin4 I do wish you the best caring for your wife and managing your listing! 

My listing is just a back apartment so I really don't have to worry so much about parties. Those seem to be happening at whole home listings. 

 I happened to see a commercial last night on Bookings.com that said "Free Cancelations anytime for most reservations." So would imagine if that's any indication things could keep drifting that way? Overall it seems like these booking platforms are in a rush to be the Amazon of STR, where customers can return anything for any reason.

I don't like to think too far into the future, though. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to keep up with STR, and may go back to long term lets. Its just a back apartment and so far the guest have been great. Presently I'm hosting a couple from abroad, and before them another couple on their honeymoon. I was hoping to travel more myself but also very busy at the present time, and not exactly sure when Ill be able to schedule more time.

Anyway hope you keep managing to get great guest and keeping everything on track!  

 
 

[Anonymous]

@John5097  I don't want to mythologize Chip Conley here, but as someone who was hosting when Airbnb was still a baby, I know what @Robin4  is talking about. I don't know the guy very personally, but I've spent enough time with him to have a pretty good idea where his heart is. When Airbnb recruited him, his job title was "Head of Hospitality," which was certainly his expertise. That was a time when Airbnb considered itself a Hospitality brand, and I think Chip was instrumental in making sure it exemplified a philosophy of hospitality in the way it approached hosts. It's probably hard to believe it now, but there used to be a time when this company run by people maybe half the age of the average host treated us like people they actually had something to learn from, and acted accordingly. They didn't always stick the landing, but for awhile there they recognized that the human connection formed between hosts and guests in the experience of hospitality was their greatest asset.

Well, something changed a few years ago - Chip is out, and hosts are basically livestock now. Airbnb's motto went from "live like a local" (as in, have human connection to the place you're visiting) to "live anywhere" (take whatever you want, it's yours). It's not a hospitality brand anymore; it's an unregulated short-term real estate brand, and hosts are just the interlopers between property and profit. There's no longer a head of hospitality, because that's not the product. Instead, there's a head of "hosting," in the same sense that Michael Jackson is the head of childhood. 

[Stephanie]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Close but Airbnb's motto is actually Belong anywhere.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Anonymous]

https://www.bworldonline.com/property/2022/01/25/425457/airbnb-says-live-anywhere-trend-here-to-stay...

[John5097]

@Anonymous Appreciate the insights. I wasn't around when Chip Conley was working for Airbnb. I was actually hoping to hear more specific accomplishments he achieved regarding Airbnb policy. Frankly when I got the notice that Airbnb had made changes to its policy I didn't even bother to read it, thinking the same ole same ole. I never would have thought after all these years that they would have changed the ESA or add a pet fee. There had been several topics here at the CC that were very candid and open, yet remained respectful, and to me I felt like I wasn't just wasting me time and energy and had been a part of some improvements. Even if it was just a very small part, as it really was other host comments, and I think we all just made a very good case for everyone. I would now consider allowing pets as there would at least be some communication and I could be prepared for them. 

In fact this morning I just happened to learn that AirBnb sends each guest info on travel insurance. This would have also been a recent change and would reflect the post here, as I've read several of yours that encourage guest to get travel insurance. 

As I said these were all very valid points. I just think it would be much better to have a consecutive and be respectful. I do just kind of go with my intuition. 

Just to be clear I'm not trying to disparage or disrespect Chip Conley. I'm assuming he was also paid a competitive salary based on market rates, as all the other executives. Im sure he was a fine person, I was just wondering if the same polices were in place then, and what policies may have changed. 

Otherwise, every group can become cliquish and epically on line, there can be misunderstandings. That's why I was asking about some of these. 

I hope no one takes this personally. For me its just a little apartment I'm renting out for a short time, but have always had other options. I may want to just have roommates, and pick up new jobs whenever I feel like it. My guest are lovely though and I have learned a lot here from many of the other regulars here at the CC. I'm just not sure why I have to take issue with some things instead of just scrolling by. 

Have a great day everyone! 

[Mark116]

It looks like the community center has now been hidden, and taken off the main menu, so you need several clicks to find it.  I guess Airbnb got more feedback than they wished to get after their latest round of policy updates.

[Anonymous]

@Mark116  That would be quite a contradiction from the default policy of directing members with ordinary customer service situations to the CC, as though it were a volunteer help desk to compensate for the total divestment from anything resembling customer service.

People like @Sarah977 thanklessly donated untold and unpaid hours of time to actually helping people, patching the gaping holes left by this incompetence while the boys in the boardroom sat on their billions, cowering in terror of women with opinions.👻 Maybe they've figured out that sending people here isn't a good behavior-modification strategy, which means that loop circles back to the bots.

Which is really helpful, if you happen to be the host whose house has just been taken over by an unauthorized party and you're about to be featured in the next headline about the next mass shooting...but let's not dwell on that, let's focus on all those bookings that all the guests and their unpaid visitors happen to survive! 😃😃😃😃😃

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Catherine-Powell Can we have @Sarah977 back please. As @Anonymous says she helped literally thousands of people.

[Paul1255]

Could do a prisoner swap 🙂

[Robin4]

@Paul1255 

Having come back here spasmodically over the course of this year, I had missed Sarah's removal from the platform until today. While searching for something else I came across your post 'A Lament for Sarah 977' and it has saddened me Paul.

I have not seen any activity from her over the past couple of weeks and just assumed she was having a holiday back in Canada. 

But I am seeing her linked to @Susan17  from Dublin and @Ute42  from Germany both of who disappeared suddenly for, presumably, stepping over the CC guidelines threshold.

Of all contributors here on the CC she has offered the most constructive help to many thousands of user enquiries, of any of us.......to the point where she has saved Airbnb thousands of dollars in support personnel wages and countless hours of support time.

I have always been proud to be a part of this Community Centre, principally for the impartial way it has been run and the excellent support the CC staff have given to all of us over the years. Every day they go in to bat for us to try and secure an outcome that potentially conflicts with the objectives of the company. The moderators have always tried to fight our injustices for us. No matter where we come from in the world we have been given a go and encouraged to voice our opinions.

I would hate to think I have to hesitate before making a critical comment, because I think that goes against all this Community Centre stands for. When you take away its passion...... you take away its very soul!

I am sad to see Sarah go.....good luck mate!

Cheers.........Rob

[Jenny]

Hi @Mark116,

Thanks for flagging this - we've had a couple of other reports about this now - the link shouldn't have disappeared as we don't want people to not be able to find the CC.

We've got someone working on getting this fixed ASAP.

Thanks again for letting us know about the error.

Jenny

[Fred13]

On a lighter note, one thing I try to never forget is to take the time between being 'El Critico' to always give credit where credit is due, otherwise things loose reference. Besides happiness is dependent on one's personal perspective.

Airbnb has done a hell of a lot of things right and we, in varying degrees, have been the benefactors. And the moderators here have kept this forum alive and have been consistently kind, no easy task.   

So during this brief interruption, here is to all of you from where I live.